Harnessing the strength of online communities within higher education

“The most promising use of the Internet is where the buoyant partnership of people and technology creates powerful new online learning communities” 

(Brown, 1999, p. 19).

Over the last decade the Internet has evolved from being a tool used by a few dedicated educators to one used by the majority of educators.  How do we develop this great resource in teaching and learning to allow students to build knowledge?  The ability for students to construct knowledge and demonstrate higher order thinking skills is at the heart of educational practices, and online communities have the potential to support these.  However, to understand how we can harness the strength of online communities to transform higher education, it is important to understand what they are and how we can use them.

The terminology associated with communities and learning is vast and well-developed. Researchers and educators use the terminology synonymously even though learning communities can be described and defined in different ways.  Some common terminology includes:

1. Communities of learners (see Brown & Campione, 1990)
2. Knowledge building communities (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1992)
3. Communities of practice (CoP)(Lave & Wenger, 1991)
4. Online learning communities (Brown, 1999)
5. Internet based learning communities (IBLC) (Wolf, 2001)

Despite differences in terminology, there are some basic similarities in how these communities operate.  Savery and Duffy (1995) suggest these commonalities include:

1. Complex, challenging learning environments with authentic tasks;
2. Social negotiation and shared responsibility as a part of learning;
3. Multiple representations of content;
4. Understanding that knowledge is constructed;
5. Student-centred instruction.

These learning communities can exist in a physical face-to-face (f2f) mode, an online or virtual mode, or a hybrid mode (more commonly referred to as blended) and students tend to seamlessly move between physical and online communities.  The challenge for university educators is knowing how to build and scaffold appropriate learning experiences for students in these communities given the range and availability of online tools, mobile devices and social media technologies (SMT).  Familiarity with online tools and user-friendliness also needs to be considered – some purpose built online education tools can be quite daunting.

Some common tools, activities and social media technologies that could support online communities if used correctly include blogs, google communities, facebook groups, discussion forums, wikis, twitter, pinterest, digital storytelling, storify, instagram and tumblr. This is not an exhaustive list but gives some idea of where to start the transformation process in higher education when developing an online community.

Building an online community involves more than merely placing digital artefacts such as documents, presentations or even video and audio online for students to consume.  Furthermore, placing this within a learning management system (LMS) with a common interface also does not equate to building an active online community where knowledge building occurs.  Too often LMS’s are used for the transmission of content in higher education and do not allow students to build knowledge or engage in higher order thinking. Many LMS’s also measure how often students access resources but this does not mean they actively engage in learning.  Some MOOCs place content online for students to consume and add a few quizzes and peer review assessment items. This does not engage students in an active online community as co-constructors of knowledge.

In transforming higher education and embracing the strength of online communities it is essential to choose the most appropriate online community tools for what you are trying to achieve.  There is no one size fits all for every possible topic of study or experience you wish students to participate in.  It is possible a combination of tools is best suited to a particular learning experience (but be careful not too use too many and confuse students).  There is a need to identify what the intended purpose of the community is and how it will work as well as understanding the background of your students.

For example, if we decide a discussion forum is needed as part of our online community, then it needs to involve more than posting a link for discussion or asking a series of questions (which would essentially result in similar responses).  It should encourage argumentation by allowing students to propose solutions or explanations to events or problems, provide evidence to substantiate these, and allow them to evaluate any feedback. Other learning approaches may involve problem-based learning or even the notion of students as authors.

True online communities don’t just happen and don’t always work in their intended way.  However, they do allow educators to rethink their approaches to teaching and learning and to create environments that are both collaborative and social in nature. Students must have a reason for joining an online community and this needs to be more than a linked assessment item.  Likewise, academics need time to effectively manage their online community and provide scaffolding where necessary.

Shaun Nykvist -- Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education / Transformational Teaching Fellow

References

Brown, A., & Campione, J. (1990). Communities of learning and thinking, or a context by any other name. In D. Kuhn (Ed.), Developmental perspectives on teaching and learning thinking skills (Contributions to Human Development Series) (pp. 108-126)). Basle, Karger.

Brown, M. E. (1999). Beyond the first wave: A framework for online learning. Journal of Online Learning, 11(1), 15-21

Hillery, G. (1955). Definitions of community: Areas of agreement. Rural Sociology, 20(2), 111-123

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991).  Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1992). Text-based and knowledge-based questioning by children. Cognition and Instruction, 9(3), 177-199

Savery, J. R., & Duffy, T. M. (1995). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Educational Technology, 35, 31-38.

Wolf, K. D., (2001). Internet Based Learning Communities: moving from patchwork environments to ubiquitous learning infrastructures.  In S. Dijkstra, D. Jonassen and D. Sembil (Eds.)  Multimedia Learning: Results and Perspectives. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang.